Miraculous One-Shots
by SilverMoonlight00
Summary: A collection of one-shots from Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Includes all kinds of topics and the four main ships. Ladynoir, Adrinette, Ladrien, Marichat; as well as fluff, reveals, and emotional snippets. If you love those types of stories then this is where to be! ***Updates every Saturday **Accepting ideas and/or suggestions for future chapters
1. Fashion

"Bye, bye, little butterfly," Ladybug waved to the now cleansed akuma as it flew off.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She threw the jar of glow-in-the-dark paint into the air, watching it disperse into ladybugs and undo all the damaged cause by Night Watch. Hawkmoth's most recent villain had covered Paris in a blanket of darkness, so Ladybug had to rely on Chat Noir to take lead on this mission.

"Pound it"

Chat Noir glanced back toward the man who had been akumatized, but his gaze was quickly drawn back to his partner. "We should do that again sometime, my ladybug," he grinned.

Ladybug sighed at his flirting attempt, but she couldn't keep a small giggle from escaping her lips. "Hopefully not too soon, but thanks for the assist," she winked playfully. The silence was broken by the sounds of their miraculous' beeping, signaling the end of their transformations.

"See you around, my lady," the black cat bowed to his lady and ran off before his identity could be revealed.

Ladybug shook her head at his silly antics and threw her yo-yo onto a nearby building, swinging onto it and heading back to the bakery.

She landed on the rooftop patio and dropped her transformation as the last spot disappeared from her earring. Tiki flew out of her miraculous and followed her chosen one as she retreated into her bedroom.

"That sure was some fight!" her kwami exclaimed. "It was a good thing Chat Noir was able to handle the situation."

"I know, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to defeat Night Watch and speaking of Chat Noir, I still have to finish those designs for the fashion show tomorrow!" Marinate sat at her desk and continued to work on the outfits.

A few days ago she had been asked to design outfits for Ladybug and Chat Noir for an exclusive fashion show and as luck would have it she was the best person for the job and not just because she was Ladybug herself. It just so happened that the person organizing the fashion show was an old friend of her parents and they had just so happened to show him some of her designs while he was visiting.

Marinette worked diligently the rest of the day on the outfits, carefully cutting and sewing the fabric, making sure it would fit comfortably on her and her partner. When she was finally finished she took a few steps back to examine her work and smiled proudly.

Tiki peeked over her shoulder to take a look at the designs as well and flew around them in excitement. "They look amazing Marinette! Chat Noir will be very impressed and so will everyone else"

"I hope so, but we should probably head to bed. It's getting pretty late and we have to be at the location early in the morning," she said, placing the outfits in their garment bags and hanging them up before getting ready for bed.

Marinette was up bright and early the next morning, even before her alarm went off. She was already in the kitchen making breakfast when her parents woke up.

"Marinette, you're up early," her mother noted as she got a carton of milk from the fridge.

"Well, I do have to be down at the location of the fashion show early. After all, I have the featured pieces," she said rather nervously.

Her father chuckled, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Marinette, everyone will love your designs, especially Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Marinette shot up from her seat, almost knocking over her breakfast and chair at once. "Well, I better get going," she ran upstairs to get the garment slips and rushed out the door, yelling a quick good-bye as the door closed behind her.

It didn't take long for her to reach the location of the fashion show, which of course was right at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Marinette weaved through all of the people getting ready for the show, almost tripping over her own two feet a few times from how little room there was to move around. Once she was back stage she felt like she could finally breathe again, but the moment of rest didn't last long. She suddenly felt very nervous and self conscious about her designs, worried that the fashion designer wouldn't approve.

"You must be Marinette," a voice called out from behind her, causing her to jump a bit.

She quickly spun around, her jaw dropping slightly as she stared at one of the greatest fashion designers, next to Gabriel AgresteAgreste, in her presence. Her only other thought was, how did her parents know this guy?!

"Y-yes!" she stood up straight, trying not to fumble over her words. "Marinette, that's my name, yup."

The man chuckled and took hold of the garment bags, taking them from her hands before she dropped them on the floor. "I'm so glad that you were able to do this on such short notice Marinette, you truly are amazing," he said, hanging them up on an empty rack. He carefully unzipped the garment bags and stared at her designs.

"These are amazing! I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will be pleased as well."

"I know Ladybug will," she mumbled to herself, hiding a smile.

"What was that?" he turned to face her.

Marinette stiffened, choking on her words as she tried to form coherent sentences. "I said, I'm sure they will. Well, see you at the show!" she bolted off the stage before any more damage could be done and headed straight for home.

For the rest of the day Marinette was nervous. She didn't know how her designs would look compared to the others being showcased that night or if anyone would even like them in the first place. Even if she was going as Ladybug, she was sure she would mess up somehow and embarrass herself infront of all of Paris! Scenarios of the inevitable disasters played on repeat in her mind and she relayed every last one, down to the tiniest detail, to Tiki. The ladybug kwami only smiled and offered her words of advice which calmed her for the most part.

While Marinette was nervous, Adrien was not. Having done modeling for his father multiple times he wasn't going to stress over being on the cat walk. Usually he would be against any kind of modeling outside of his fathers business, but going as Chat Noir was totally different than going as Adrien. Especially since he'd be heading the fashion show with his trusty partner and love, Ladybug.

"Take a load off and relax," Plagg said casually, floating by Adrien's head in a rather relaxed manner. "And while you're at it, I wouldn't mind a bit of camembert."

Adrien signed and pulled out a small triangle of the cheese from his coat pocket, handing it to the black cat kwami. "You know, saying please wouldn't hurt once in a while."

"Don't you have better things to be doing besides commenting on my table manners, which by the way, happen to be very refined," the kwami retorted, throwing the cheese into the air and catching it in his mouth. He watched as Adrien sit at his computer monitors, sighing dreamily as he stared at the Ladyblog, which was pulled up on every monitor he had.

"I can't wait for tonight."

As the sky became darker, all the people of Paris stared to gather at the base of the Eiffel Tower hoping to catch a glimpse of the fashion show.

Well, all of Paris except for Adrien and Marinette of course.

It took a bit of persuasion, but Adrien had managed to convince his father to let him stay home from the show, even though Gabriel tried multiple times to get him to go and scope out the competition.

Marinette however had a harder time, being the one who designed the show stopping pieces her parents insisted she be there to check them out once they were showcased. She put on her best sick face and faked an illness, which seemed to buy her some time as neither Tom nor Sabine tried to force her into it again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Ronaldo Fernand's fashion show!" one of the men announced, causing a roar of applause from the crowd. More words were exchanged before the show would officially start and everything seemed to be going according to plan. Backstage people were rushing around, frantically changing and preparing for their part in the show. Makeup was hastily applied and dresses were being hemmed last minute.

"Looks like things are getting messy back here," Ladybug said as she landed back stage, retracting her yo-yo and attaching it to her waist.

"You can say that again, it's a catastrophe," Chat Noir landed beside his partner, retracting his baton.

Ronaldo easily spotted the superheroes in the crowd and rushed toward them, grabbing the garment bags and shoving them into the duo's hands. "Quickly, go change, we are in a bit of a hurry," he said, moving them to the make shift dressing rooms.

It didn't take long for either to get ready and they stepped out of the dressing rooms, almost in sync. And while Ladybug was examining her handwork on Chat Noir's suit, he was star struck by his lady.

"Ladybug, you look…pawsitively purfect," he grinned, knowing the pun was going to get to her.

Ladybugs' dress was simple and yet elegant with a sweet heart neck line, off the shoulder straps and an open back. The fabric was deep red ombre, her signature black spots being added as it went past her hips and around her waist was a black belt. The back of the dress split like a ladybug's wings, the fabric under that frilly white until it touched the floor. Even her hair had been done, no longer in their signature pony tails but up in an elegant bun with two strands to frame her face.

Chat Noir's outfit consisted of a black tux with lime green trim over a green vest and black pants. The back of the tux extended further than the front and easily showed off the lime green fabric on the inside. The cufflinks holding the sleeves of the suit had Chat's signature green paw print as did the stone in the middle of his tie. And of course, being Chat Noir, his hair just hung in his face, but it was a little more neatly styled so it stuck to one side instead of being all over the place.

"You don't look too bad yourself Chat Noir" she winked. Chat Noir could feel his heart beating faster in his chest and his face heat up from how badly he was blushing.

"And for our featured guests, Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Ready to go my lady?" Chat extended his elbow, which she gladly held onto.

"Always kitty," Ladybug smiled in return as the curtains were drawn apart and they began their debut down the run way.


	2. The Alya Connection

Alya was secretly screaming inside. She was in one of the empty TV studios with Paris's famous superhero duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir. It was after an akuma attach one day that she had bravely asked for an interview with Ladybug and received a grand "yes" from the superhero. But that didn't even begin to explain her excitement as Chat Noir also agreed to join in on it.

"This is so amazing! I have so many questions, I-I don't know where to start," she gasped, loosing her breath as she clutched her phone close to her chest in an attempt to not squeal in delight.

"Deep breaths Alya," Ladybug said, trying to calm her so she wouldn't burst. "Why don't you start with something simple," she suggested.

Alya's face brightened as she composed herself and began the recording. "Hey everyone! I'm here with none other than Ladybug and Chat Noir, giving you guys the inside scoop on this superhero duo," she started, panning between the two. "Let's start with an easy question" she suggested.

"What's your favorite color?" she leaned forward in her chair, positioning her elbows on her knees to steady the camera.

"That's an easy one, green."

"I'd have to say pink."

Chat Noir raised a brow in question. "I would have thought your favorite color to be red. I mean, considering," he pointed to her suit.

Ladybug chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, well, you know me. Always surprising people," she babbled.

"Everyone knows you two have saved Paris about a million times, myself included, but no one knows how you do it. So, what kinds of special skills do you guys possess that helps defeat Hawkmoth's akumatized villains?"

"There are lots of things we do that helps us get the job done. With our special abilities, we're able to be stronger, faster and more agile than we would be outside of the costume," Ladybug explained, thankful to her friend for asking serious questions about their work unlike their last interview experience.

Chat Noir stared into the camera, his signature smirk plastered on his face. "Those are great and all, but as Chat Noir I also have enhanced senses and night vision," he pointed to his bright green eyes and wiggled his ears to show off.

Alya zoomed in on the black clad superhero's features as he demonstrated his cat like abilities to the viewers. "That's so cool!" she zoomed back out so both heroes were in her view screen. "And what about your weapons? We've all seen you use them to get around Paris and Ladybug's yo-yo to cleanse akuma's, but that can't be all they can do. Not to mention your cool super powers."

"My yo-yo and Chat's staff are very versatile. They can be used to track down villains, display a map of Paris and we can communicate with each other through ear pieces or by using it as a cell phone," Ladybug said, showing Alya her object's uses as she explained them.

"Not only that, but they're indestructible and can help shield us from anything Hawkmoth throws at us. Literally," Chat Noir added, twirling his staff between his fingers. "Also, Ladybug's yo-yo string is endless and there's no limit to how far I can extend my staff."

Ladybug grabbed her partners wrist to stop him from continuously twirling his staff, before it hit anyone or flew half way across the room. "As Ladybug I have the power of good luck and creation and with my lucky charm, I can receive all kinds of objects to help us defeat Hawkmoth's villains. And I can reverse any damage done during our battles."

Alya turned the camera toward the black cat, catching him in his moment of weakness; admiring Ladybug. "And what about you Chat Noir?"

Chat snapped his focus back to Alya, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he realized he had been caught red pawed.

"Well, being Chat Noir is pretty awesome. It granted me the powers of bad luck and destruction, which isn't actually all that bad," he chuckled at his stupid pun. "I help my lady out with my special power, cataclysm, which lets me destroy anything I touch. It really helps when we're in a bind."

Ladybug smiled at her partner, glad that, aside from his showing off and terrible puns, he was taking the interview seriously.

"Of course, we don't know everything that our weapons can do just yet, so we've only just hit the tip of the ice berg."

"OMG!" Alya squealed, unable to contain herself any longer. "Your abilities are so amazing, it's no wonder you're able to win every time and work so well together. You're like, yin and yang," she speculated. Once she was calmed down, she was ready to get on with the next set of questions and was confident she would be able to crack the mystery of who was under the masks once and for all.

"Okay, so we all know you guys as Ladybug and Chat Noir, heroes of Paris. And we've just heard about your amazing powers. But what everyone is dying to know is, what you guys like in your civilian lives."

The superhero duo straightened and stared at each other, neither one saying a word. This was what they had been dreading. Everyone loved them as heroes and they weren't shy toward answering any questions about their heroics. But when it came to their real selves, the people they were under the mask, they had to be very careful about how they answered their questions otherwise their identities would be blown. Big time.

"O-okay. Ask away," Ladybug encouraged, smiling nervously.

"What do you guys like doing when you're not saving Paris?" Alya panned between the two, waiting for an answer.

"Well…," she thought about how to word her next few sentences. "I like hanging out with my best friend, she's always there for me. And ummm…making things. Yeah. I like making things, I'm really creative." she turned to her partner, her eyes pleading for him to take over.

"Uh…my days are pretty full. Between learning another language and an instrument and keeping my fighting skills sharp, I don't have much else to do for myself," he said. "But I don't mind practicing my skills, I mean, it takes hard work to look this good," Chat flexed his muscles, grinning ear to ear and wiggling his eyebrows at Ladybug.

Ladybug groaned at his flirting attempt which only caused Alya to laugh. "So you guys have plenty to do both in and out of costume. Have you told anyone about your identities, like family or friends? You know, to make it easier to go save the world?"

"Of course not," Ladybug said quickly. "Our identities must stay a secret to protect the ones we love. And it would be much more dangerous if Hawkmoth ever found out who we were."

"So, no one knows where you guys go when there's an akuma attack?" Alya asked.

Chat Noir slumped in his seat, crossing his arms. "No one really takes notice, and it's not like my father cares anyway," he mumbled the last part to himself mostly.

Ladybug's gaze softened toward her partner as she remembered all those times they would be out on patrol and he would rant to her about his days. Her attention was drawn back toward the interview when the next question was brought up and it made her cheeks heat up redder than her suit.

"Okay. All of Paris is dying to know. Do you guys have a special someone?" she raised a brow in curiosity.

Chat Noir instantly perked up, grinning his signature Chat Noir smile. He threw an arm around Ladybug's shoulder and pulled her close to him. "Well, I think Ladybug and I would make a purrfect couple. After all, we are made for each other, right bugaboo?" he leaned in toward her, hoping to steal a kiss from his love.

Ladybug scrunched up her nose and pushed him away, causing him to fall back into his seat with a soft groan. "Not so fast kitty. We work well together fighting akumas, so yeah, we're great partners in that regard. But…I kind of like someone else," she pressed her fingers together, rubbing them nervously.

"Oh? Care to give the ladyblog any deets?"

"O-oh…well, he um…," she fumbled, unsure of what to really say. She couldn't just give away that it was Adrien and she didn't want anyone to find out she knew him, that would for sure narrow down the search options for her identity and be extremely embarrasing. "His school is good. Wait, no! H-he's good school, am school…at school?" she groaned, hiding her head in her hands. She knew she had a hard time talking about Adrien, but she didn't realize it went as far as being unable to form sentences under the mask too.

Alya could easily tell how uncomfortable Ladybug had become and turned her phone back toward herself while Chat Noir tried to comfort his lady. "We'll be taking a short break," she said, shutting off the recording. "I'm going to go over the footage….over there," she pointed to the farthest part of the room, quickly shuffling toward it to give the superheroes some room to cool down.

She sat on the floor and flicked through her phone to find the recording and rewatched the video feed. As she got to the part where they talked about their civilian lives, she realized there were things they had said that she didn't pick up on at first, most likely because she was fan girling too hard to notice.

Ladybug's statement on being creative and making things in her spare time reminded her a lot of Marinette who was very creative and always designing something. Not to mention when she mentioned her best friend, she could almost see a genuine smile cast toward her way. Then there was the way she had trouble with coherent sentences as she talked about her crush. It was so similar to how her best friend talked about her crush Adrien. And Ladybug even said he was good in school, which meant they had to go to the same school. She shook her head, trying to convince herself she was wrong about her theory.

But what about Chat Noir? The language, the instrument and fighting skills? It didn't sound like anyone she knew, but the only person who had that busy of a schedule was Adrien. However, she couldn't really convince herself that he was the flirtatious and pun loving Chat Noir. But it kind of made sense to her too. Adrien took Chinese, played piano and fenced which was similar to the superheros fighting style. Plus, he mentioned his father didn't notice him majority of the time and that was something her model friend talked about quite often.

As she thought about it some more she realized she had previous proof as well. Her fingers quickly dashed across the screen and she pulled up a previous blog update from when she found the history text book Ladybug had dropped one day. It made more sense to her now as to why Ladybug had that specific book; she was in her grade! And not just that, no one knew where they went during Akuma attacks and it made her think about all those times Marinette and Adrien would either dash off at around exactly the same time or not be present at all. Then they would come rushing back, out of breath when it was all over.

Alya shook her head again, trying to convince herself it was all a coincidence that everything fit together, that they were so similar to one another. She stared at the two superheroes, her mind running on over drive as she tried to piece together what she suspected and what she knew already. It was hard for her to grasp her mind around the idea that Ladybug and Chat Noir were Marinette and Adrien, but it made too much sense for it not to be true.

"Only one way to find out," her voice full of determination as she made her way back toward the superheroes. If she was going to confirm her suspicions she had to get more facts and that meant asking more hard questions. Not just about Ladybug and Chat Noir. No, to get to the truth her questions had to be more specific to Marinette and Adrien.

* * *

Jedi Master - I will definitely consider it! I'll have to do lots of research to plan it before I even write it, so it may take a little while!

Variations of You - I'm so touched by your words, you're so kind. I'm glad that you enjoy the story so far and I hope to be able to continue bringing great content to you and all Miraculous lovers!


	3. Surprise

Two years ago Marinette Dupain-Chang and Adrien Agreste discovered that they had been working together under the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Two years ago Adrien asked Marinette to officially be his girlfriend. Not just because he had fallen for the brave and selfless hero side of her, but also because he had fallen for her sweet and clumsy civilian side as well.

But today wasn't any ordinary day for the young couple. Today was special and Adrien was panicking big time trying to figure out what to do. His calendar was open on his desk to the current month, each day crossed off with a neat "X", but today was circled in a bright red marker with the words "Mari B-Day" scrawled in the box.

"Plagg, what am I going to do?" he paced back and forth frantically. "It's Marinette's birthday and I haven't found the perfect gift!" he groaned in dissatisfaction.

"How about camembert, that always makes me happy," his kwami suggested, hinting at the fact he wanted cheese.

"I'm serious Plagg. She's amazing at fashion design and art, she's creative and intuitive, not to mention she saves the world on a daily basis!" Adrien sighed and fell back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. All he had to do was get Marinette something for her birthday, but it seemed like an impossible task. What were you suppose to get someone who has everything they could ever want?

He picked up his phone, scrolling through the internet to see if he could find any ideas for gifts. Whatever it was he got her it had to be amazing, just like her, nothing less for his girl. The amazing and talented Marinette, savior of Paris, and the girl who stole his heart time and time again.

"I know! I'll ask Alya, she'll know exactly what Marinette would like," he dialed the blogger's number, waiting for her to pick up. On the third ring she answered, but the sound of screaming children in the background made it harder to hear.

"Alya, it's Adrien. I'm in a bit of a bind here. I don't know what to get Marinette for her birthday," he relayed his problem. "You're her best friend, what does she like?"

There was a long pause and the sound of children dimmed in the background. "Come on Adrien, I may be her best friend, but you're her boyfriend. You should know what she likes," she reminded him.

"Alya, please. I can't think of anything, help me out here," he begged.

She sighed. It was as if he were on his knees right in front of her, begging with big puppy dog eyes. "Okay, fine. Just, get her something from the heart and don't go overboard. Marinette likes simple things."

Adrien let out a long sigh, shifting his phone to his other ear. "But I don't know what that would be, she has practically everything."

The sound of a young girl laughing loudly into the phone made him cringe and then the line was cut off. He threw the phone back down onto the bed, assuming one of Alya's sisters took hold of her cell.

"This is impossible!" Adrien sat up, twisting his miraculous. "If I'm going to find Marinette the perfect gift, I'm going to have to take a look around town," he gave his kwami a side ways glance which he responded to by flying away to hide.

"Plagg, claws out!" the black cat was sucked into the ring and no longer did Adrien stand there, but Chat Noir. He pushed open one of the windows and leapt out, extending his staff and vaulting himself onto the nearest rooftop.

"Time for this cat to find the purrfect gift for his purrfect lady," he chuckled at his own pun, wishing Ladybug were there to hear it. His green eyes scanned the streets, looking over every store he could find that might have what he believed Mari would love. Occasionally he would leap down from the rooftops and look inside the display windows, but nothing peeked his interest.

Chat Noir spent most of the afternoon looking for a gift, but store after store he was disappointed. Nothing seemed to be perfect for his lady. He leaped onto the roof of a pet store and sat there, letting his feet dangle off the side. "Maybe I'm getting worked up over nothing. I mean, she could be totally fine without a gift…right?" he asked him. "What am I saying, I can't do that. She'd be devastated if I didn't get her something," he stood, extending his staff across the street so he could get to the other side.

"But I'm also running out of time," he continued speaking to himself as he walked across his staff like a trapeze artist. "Maybe I should just go back home and tell her I tried. She'll understand…right?"

Chat Noir sighed, his ears drooping as he headed back to the Agreste mansion, wondering how he was going to tell Marinette he couldn't find her a birthday gift. Just as he was about to turn the corner he spotted a jewelry store, his eyes instantly lighting up. "Of course!" he hopped onto the street and hid behind one of the large white pillars so he could drop his transformation. Plagg circled around his miraculous holder, begging for cheese, which Adrien responded to by shoving him into his jacket as he ran into the store.

Dusk settled over Paris and the streets dulled down as night settled over the city. But the Dupain-Chang bakery was open and bustling. Everyone was crowded in the living room of their home to celebrate Marinette's birthday party. They played a few of her favorite games, watched a movie and had the cake which she baked herself that very day.

"Alright everyone, presents," Sabine chimed in. Everyone gathered up the gifts they had brought, eagerly awaiting for Marinette to see what they had gotten her.

"Adrien, why don't you go first," she smiled sweetly.

Alya grabbed the model by the wrist and pulled him closer to the circle. "Yeah. We all want to see the amazing gift you picked out."

Adrien scratched the back of his neck nervously as everyone stared at him expectantly. He held out a small box wrapped in pink paper and tied with a red spotted bow. "You're so amazing Marinette, I didn't know what to get you. I just hope you like it," his cheeks heating up considerably.

Marinette smiled, carefully pulling the ribbon off and peeling back the paper so she could save it for something else. "I'm sure whatever it is, I'll love it. After all, it came from you," she said, shimming the lid off. Her eyes lit up and her smile widened as she stared at its contents. Inside the box, laid neatly on top of some tissue paper, was a silver heart pendant with Adrien's name engraved in blue, hanging on a thin silver chain.

"Oh, Adrien I love it!"

"There's more," he whispered softly into her ear.

Carefully she turned the pendant over and on the other side was the name Chat Noir engraved in a vibrant green. Adrien helped her put the necklace on, with "Adrien" facing out of course. She looked up at him, unable to wipe the grin off that was plastered to her face. Adrien Agreste, her amazing boyfriend and long time partner Chat Noir, had gotten her something to remind her of their relationship, not only as civilians but also as heroes.

"Happy Birthday Marinette," he kissed her cheek earning a round of dreamy sighs from everyone.


	4. Sorry

After the defeat of Hawkmoth, Ladybug and Chat Noir had decided it was time to reveal themselves to the people of Paris. After all, they had already figured out each other's identities a few months before that and without a threat looming over them, it was safe to show everyone else who was under the masks.

When the day of the reveal came it was broadcast across Paris on every channel. Everyone was in completely shock over who had been protecting them from the dangers of Hawkmoth's akumas. It was the talk of the city for weeks on end. But no one was more surprised, and disgusted, than Chloe Bourgeois. She hadn't expected for the perfect, model son of Gabriel Agreste to be the flirty and pun loving Chat Noir or for the clumsy baker's daughter to be the strong and confident Ladybug.

After the reveal Chloe changed and everyone noticed, especially at school. She had stopped advancing on Adrien and quit making fun of Marinette, much to everyone's surprise. When she saw them going to school together every morning and leave together every afternoon it made her think about what she had done to them without knowing who they really were.

She had made advances toward Adrien so many times, yet he always protected her from the akumatized villains she caused, saving her ungrateful butt over and over. And every day she would find some new way to make fun of Marinette, yet she adored her as Ladybug for her bravery and heroism.

It was after school one day that Chloe decided it was time to right all her past wrongs. She never thought in a million years that she would ever stoop so low as to apologize to someone, especially Marinette. But, after taking some time to self reflect, she mustered up all her courage and decided it was finally time to speak to her, to apologize for the times she had made fun of her.

She saw the couple outside infront of Adrien's car, watching them exchange a few words. A tender kiss was shared between them before they parted ways to head home for the night. Chloe ran down the stairs as fast as her designer shoes would take her, but not so fast that she would break a sweat.

"Marinette! Hey!" she called out rather loudly.

Marinette stopped, surprised to see that it was Chloe who was calling after her. She glanced over at Adrien who hadn't yet gotten into the car, worry plastered on his face as he knew the history between the two girls. Marinette gave him a reassuring smile as she knew she could handle the situation. As his car drove away she focused her attention back onto Chloe.

"Did you need something Chloe?," she asked curiously, gripping the strap of her purse close to her body.

"Oh, now I can't say hi to my friend," she accused, crossing her arms.

Marinette raised a brow in question, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Last I checked, you and I weren't friends and we never really have been," she pointed out.

Chloe gasped as if she had been hurt by her words. "What? No, you must be mistaken," she laughed. "Well, in any case we're friends now," she said. "You're just jealous that I'm better looking than you," she pointed a freshly manicured nail at the girl infront of her.

Marinette crossed her arms, not buying what she was saying. For as long as she knew Chloe, she also knew that she would never want to be friends with anyone, especially not her. "What makes you think we're friends?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You're Ladybug and I've been a fan of her for like, ever! It's only right that we become friends," Chloe scoffed.

Marinette shook her head, sighing at her words. "Chloe, did you not just hear what you said? You don't want to be friends with me because I'm me, but because I'm Ladybug," she pointed out, even though she knew it was most likely a futile effort to get her to see what she was saying was wrong.

"No way," she waved it off. "I may be Ladybug's biggest fan, but I also like you," she said, her words sounding more forced than anything.

"Oh really?" Marinette eyed her, still not buying her words. "I've known you for a long time Chloe and you've never been nice to me. But now that you know I'm Ladybug, who you adore so much, you suddenly want to be best friends. That doesn't sound wrong to you at all?"

Chloe looked at her as if she were wearing mismatching clothes that weren't in season. "No, why would it."

Marinette sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. She knew Chloe would never understand reason and she hated to be harsh toward the girl, but she wasn't giving her much of a choice. "Chloe, the only reason you're considering us friends is because I'm Ladybug. You wouldn't even be trying this hard to be my friend if you hadn't found out in the first place," she stated firmly.

"You're just jealous that everyone wanted to be my friend and you didn't have any. Maybe if you hadn't been so selfish, keeping your identity a secret everyone would have wanted to be your friend!" Chloe huffed.

"I'm not the one being selfish here. It was important we kept our identities a secret, otherwise Hawkmoth would have gone after our friends and family. And maybe if you weren't so stuck up more people would like you!"

Chloe glared at her, flicking her hair aside. "Look, I'm sorry and whatever, but can't we just like, start over?" she asked.

"Sorry doesn't fix everything Chloe, at least not everything you've done. Not only have you bullied me for years, but you've made advances toward Adrien that you couldn't even see he didn't want. Yet, you idolized Ladybug and Chat Noir who saved you and the people you akumatized over and over and without knowing what you had been doing to us without the mask."

"No! You're wrong," Chloe didn't dare look Marinette in the eye. She could tell by her tone of voice that she was furious, but she didn't want to give her an advantage by seeing her in a weakened state.

A light rain started to fall and as the minutes passed it because heavier. In just a few short moments both girls were soaked, their clothes heavy with water and their hair clinging to their skin. Marinette opened her umbrella, holding it above the two of them for a few short moments.

"You can say anything you want Chloe. You can try to convince me it would have been different, that you wouldn't have accepted me as a friend just because you knew my identity. You can say all you want that you love Adrien. But it's not true," Marinette's gaze was ice cold. There was little sympathy or warmth for the girl standing before her, not after everything she had to endure before her identity was revealed or after everything that just happened.

"Sorry just isn't going to be enough. Not this time," she drew the umbrella closer to herself, leaving a shocked and soaking wet Chloe standing in the rain.


	5. Umbrella

Alya stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Marinette. She was eager to show her the new video footage she had of Ladybug and Chat Noir from their most recent battle against Hawkmoth's akuma. She flipped through her phone, glancing up at the classroom door to see if she would emerge, but no such luck.

A few more minutes passed and she heard the all too familiar, "Sorry, sorry, I'm here now," followed by a stressed out Marinette.

"Took you long enough," she laughed. Marinette rubbed the back of her neck, a bit embarrassed at how long she had actually taken to talk with . "But seriously, no worries girl. Now, I have to show you this video!"

Marinette waited for Alya to pull up the video on her phone when she caught sight of a certain blonde haired model standing outside. "Hey, why don't we go to my place. You can show me there," she said, trying to give her friend the boot while still being polite.

"What are you talking about, this is…" she paused, noticing Marinette's far off look. The corners of her lips turned into a smirk. "Alright, I'll see you there and remember to make full sentences," she teased, nudging her best friend in the side a few times before leaving the love struck Marinette.

Marinette stood still, her eyes trained on the back of Adrien's head. It was as if time slowed down and they were the only two people in the world. Rain tapped against the glass in heavy waves and an occasional burst of thunder could be heard in the distance.

Tiki popped her head out of Marinette's purse, looking between her miraculous holder and the boy infront of her. "Go talk to him. He's not going to be standing there forever," she encouraged.

Marinette looked down at her kwami, biting her lip nervously. "But what do I say? What if I make a fool out of myself," she rubbed her arm nervously, knowing how much of a klutz she could be infront of him.

"You can do it Marinette, I believe in you. You've been able to talk to him normally before, you can do it again," Tiki encouraged.

She couldn't image herself going over to talk to him, let alone make coherent sentences in his presence. But it was something about her kwami's encouraging words and the familiarity of the situation that made her feet move gradually toward him.

Marinette stood behind the model, almost backing out of her decision, but Tiki was right and she had to take the leap. "H-hey Adrien," she stuttered, her cheeks flushing bright red.

"Oh, hey Marinette," Adrien smiled causing her heart rate to increase and her face to brighten considerably. She stared at his green eyes, melting at how warm and compassionate they looked.

Adrien tiled his head slightly, raising a brow. "Are you okay?"

Marinette straightened, the words dying in her throat. "Oh, yeah, pft, I'm totally fine. I was just wonder what you were doing here," she said, mentally hitting herself on the head. "That's not what I meant, I know you were here at school, for classes, what I meant was uh, what are you doing here…still," she corrected, hoping that she hadn't just made the situation as awkward as it felt.

"I'm waiting for my ride. Father's probably waiting the rain out so he doesn't have to cancel his photo shoot," he shrugged.

Marinette looked out into the rain, watching it come down in waves. "But you shouldn't be waiting in the rain, you'll catch a cold."

"Well, it was nice this morning so I didn't think it would rain at all. And I didn't bring an umbrella," he admitted.

Marinette's hand tightened around the handle of her umbrella and she quickly posed it open, holding it over the two of them to stop the down pour of rain. "Here, you can take mine," she offered, holding it out toward him. Thunder roared overhead as the rain began to pick up, beating down on them. She smiled, her cheeks tinted rosy read as she got lost in his gorgeous eyes.

Adrien stared at her, wondering how she could be so generous and kind hearted. Willing to give up her only umbrella and chance to stay dry on her walk home to the bakery for him. He wanted to refuse as she had to walk home in the rain and he simply had to get to the car, but he couldn't deny her kindness and took the umbrella from her hands.

"Thanks Marinette," he smiled, twisting the umbrella in his hand, familiarity washing over his hand as he held it. Then realization hit him. It wasn't just any umbrella she had just given him, no, it was the same one that he had given her on that fateful first day of school.

"You kept it?"

Marinette shyly nodded as she was shielded from the rain. She looked up, noticing that they were once again sharing the umbrella. "That first day of school didn't go so well and all those mean things Chloe did I blamed on you. I thought you were just like her for a while. Then I was proven wrong. When you gave me your umbrella that day, I saw how kind and generous you were. After all, someone who sacrifices getting drenched in the rain for someone else couldn't be all bad," she said gently. "I wanted to give it back to you, I really did. But…it had a lot of meaning and I just, couldn't," she looked down at the steps, feeling guilty that she hadn't returned it sooner. That she had kept it for such a silly reason.

"It's okay Marinette, I understand.," Adrien smiled causing her heart to flutter. "The first day was pretty rough, but in the end I made a really good friend."

They stayed silent for a while longer, staring out at the rain that was coming down. But it didn't last long as the sound of a car horn broke the serenity. "Looks like my ride is here. Thanks again Marinette, I'll see you tomorrow," he stared down the stairs toward the car where the Gorilla was already waiting for him with the door open.

The door shut behind him and Plagg flew out of Adrien's shirt, claiming the umbrella as his personal sitting space, fussing a bit over how damp it was. He looked up at his miraculous holder, tilting his head in question. "You like her don't you?"

Adrien stared out the window, watching Marinette's figure get smaller and smaller as they drove away. "We've been over this Plagg, Ladybug is the only one who holds my heart," he sighed, watching the rain slide down the window. "Marinette's, just a friend."


	6. Trapped

"I've got you now Ladybug and Chat Noir," Snare Master laughed, cornering them in the court yard of Françoise Dupont High School. He pointed his laser beam at the two heroes, his lips curling up into a smirk. "Give me your miraculous or you can kiss your lives goodbye!"

Ladybug narrowed her gaze, clenching her fists in determination. "We will never give you our miraculous!" she twirled her yo-yo, throwing it at him in an attempt to tangle him up in her string.

Snare Master jumped out of the way, landing on the railing of the second floor. He spotted a head retreating into one of the classrooms and grinned slyly. "If you won't hand over your miraculous, then I'll make you," he pointed his weapon at the classroom.

Ladybug caught on to what he was doing and quickly ran up the stairs, Chat Noir close on her heels. "You get the students out of here, I'll deal with this guy," she stopped at the top of the stairs as Chat dashed by her.

"Lucky Charm!" she threw her yo-yo into the air, her special power producing yet another seemingly useless item.

Ladybug stared at the object in her hand, trying to figure out how to use it.

Snare Master drew his weapon, shooting off laser beams at the superhero. She jumped back, barely avoiding getting hit by one of the shots and retreated into the same room Chat Noir had ducked into. As soon as she entered the room, the door shut and thick metal bars appeared outside the window.

The akumatized villain laughed, clinging onto one of the bars. "I have you now Ladybug and Chat Noir. This entire building is surrounded by my cage and once you run out of power, your miraculous will be mine!" he laughed, jumping up onto the rooftop.

"Trapped like rats," Chat Noir jiggled the door handle, but the door didn't budge. "I know what'll get us out of here," he said.

"Chat Noir, no, don't!" she tried to stop him from using his social power, but it was too late. He held the black energy in his hand and touched the door, causing it to disintegrate into nothing. But they were not free. Behind that door was another set of bars. Not only were they trapped in the school, but also in the classroom.

"Nice going," Chloe exclaimed, glaring at the superhero. "Now I'm trapped in here with these, these…commoners!"

"We're not any happier to be stuck in here with you either," Alix huffed, leaning back against the wall.

Ladybug grabbed her partners arm, pulling him to one corner of the room. "What are we going to do Chat, there's no way out and we're going to detransform soon…infront of these people," she whispered rather loudly.

The sound of beeping rang through the room and everyone knew what that meant. Ladybug looked around frantically for an idea, but she couldn't come up with one and the item she had received from her lucky charm still wasn't giving her any ideas on how to use it.

"If you don't get me out of here soon I'll call my daddy!" Chloe exclaimed once again, but was silenced when she received a glare from both heroes.

Ladybug looked around frantically for an idea. She knew they were going to run out of time soon and they couldn't risk revealing their identities, not to their classmates and not to each other.

"Okay, I have an idea," she turned toward her partner. "What if one of us hides in the closet and the other can duck behind the desk. That way we can detransform, give our kwami's a boost of energy and get back into action," she suggested, knowing it was a pretty stupid idea, but it was the only one she had on such short notice.

"Really? That's your best idea?" Chat stared at her in disbelief. His lady, who had come up with inventive solutions to defeat akumatized villains over and over, sometimes without his aid, couldn't figure out how to keep their identities a secret.

"I'd like to see you come up with a better one," Ladybug retorted, crossing her arms.

"Like I said, it's a great idea," he grinned sheepishly, knowing he wouldn't be able to come up with anything.

Ladybug sighed, shaking her head. "Think Chat, we need a plan," she urged as the familiar beeping noise sounded once again. She glanced down at his ring, noticing he only had three paw pads left which meant she wasn't far behind.

Chat Noir snapped his fingers, grabbing the bandana from 's desk. "We can blind fold ourselves, that way we can't see each other," he suggested, feeling a wave of brilliance wash over him.

"Great plan, except for the part where everyone else can still see us!" she exclaimed, motioning toward their classmates.

"That's the best I could think of in such urgency," he admitted.

Ladybug groaned, unable to fully believe what was happening before her. Not only were they trapped, with all their class mates, and their transformations running out, but her partner was still unable to come up with ideas.

The two heroes paced the floor, thinking of a plan of attack. The class watched anxiously, awaiting to see what the duo would come up with to get them out of the situation this time. With their miraculous' beeping once more the class couldn't hold back their curiosity as they awaited to see who was behind the masks.

"Okay, how about-"

"Too late!" Ladybug watched as the magic started to wear off of his feet, slowly making its way up his legs. She quickly turned around so she wouldn't be able to see him. In her haste however, she had forgotten about her own transformation which was starting to wear off itself.

The class gasped as the last of their transformations wore off. The room grew silent, no one made any moments as they stared at the two heroes before them, now without their costumes. No one wanted to shout their names, afraid to ruin the peaceful friendship that had developed between the two or to embarrass Marinette infront of her crush.

"No way! There is no way that MY Adrikins can be that-that, Chat Noir!" Chloe exclaimed, leaning forward so she could get a better look. "And Marinette cannot be Ladybug, she's too clumsy to be a superhero," she laughed.

Alya glared at her, settling her hands on her hips. "Nice going Chloe," she retorted. "And you're wrong. Marinette is totally Ladybug, I can see it. She's brave and selfless just like her, but…Adrien as Chat Noir, still unbelievable," she chuckled.

Marinette tensed, her breath hitched in her throat as she heard the words coming out of Chloe's mouth. She could feel her face heating up and she was sure that it was brighter than her costume. Tiki flew infront of her, urging her to turn around and face Adrien, but her body wouldn't move and she was unable to respond to her kwami.

"Marinette?" Adrien placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. Marinette refused to make any motion to face him, throwing her arms infront of her face when he turned her around. She could feel her arms being pushed away from her eyes, forcing her to look at him.

She grinned sheepishly, unsure of what to say and it looked as if he was just as nervous as she was. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but at her.

"Oh for the love of…talk to each other!" Plagg interrupted, circling around his miraculous holders head.

The sound of Chloe shrieking snapped them out of their daze. She jumped into Kim's arms, pointing at the kwami's with disgust on her face. "Get those disgusting creatures away from me," she waved.

Alya pressed a finger to her temple, growing just as tired as the rest of the class was toward Chloe's remarks. "They're not disgusting and they're not just any creatures. They're what give Ladybug and Chat Noir their powers," she informed her, but the daughter of the mayor hardly paid her any attention as she continued to squirm away from them.

"So…you're…" Marinette looked him up and down, unable to imagine him in the tight leather costume that belonged to her partner. She could barely comprehend that he was the same person that made stupid cat puns beside her every day.

"Chat Noir," he finished for her. "And you're, Ladybug."

"Yeah, that's me," she fiddled with the strap of her bag, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Are you disappointed that it's me?"

Adrien looked at her, his face full of confusion. "Why would you think that?"

Marinette looked up at him, then back at his shoes, finding it easier to speak to him when she wasn't looking directly into his eyes. "It's just. Ladybug is so amazing and brave and talented. She's creative and a problem solver and just…not me. I'm not any of those things, I'm just clumsy old Marinette," she sighed.

"That's not true. Ladybug or not, you have the same qualities with or without the suit. It's like, when I'm Chat Noir I feel free and able to really be myself than when I'm just me. When we're superheroes, it's just an extension of who we are," he reminded her.

"I know, but, I still feel like Ladybug is a different person from me. I mean, I know it's the same person under the mask, but it just doesn't feel the same," she sighed, rubbing the side of her arm nervously.

Adrien stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Even without the mask you are Ladybug. You're both kind and courageous, creative and headstrong. Not to mention, beautiful," he grabbed her hand, holding it in his.

"B-but-"

"Marinette, when I first worked with you as Ladybug to save Paris from Stone Heart, I fell in love with her. And I told myself that I would love her no matter who was under the mask," his voice was full of sincerity and she could see it reflected in his eyes.

"Hate to interrupt this beautiful moment, but there's still an akuma out there and we're stuck in here," Alya reminded them.

Tiki flew between the two, cutting off their moment. "She's right Marinette, you two have to get back out there." Marinette nodded and handed her kwami a macaroon from her purse.

"And what about me? I need my precious camembert, now Adrien!" Plagg whined, flailing his arms frantically. Tiki bit into the macaroon and shoved the other half into Plagg's mouth before he could make a big deal out of his cheese.

Adrien chuckled, giving Tiki a small high-five to thank her for not only feeding his kwami, but keeping him quiet for once. "Alright, we'll transform, I'll get us out of this place and we'll stop Snare Master once and for all," he said, his signature Chat Noir smirk plastered on his face.

Marinette burst into laughter, unable to keep herself together. No, not after seeing the flirty Chat Noir look on Adrien's angel face. "S-sorry, sorry. Let's get going."

"Tiki, Spots On!" the ladybug kwami was sucked into her earrings and in a flash of pink light Ladybug stood in her place.

"Not bad, but I think I got you beat," Adrien winked. "Plagg, Claws Out!" his lazy cat kwami was sucked into his ring and a flash of green light transformed him into Chat Noir.

Everyone stared in awe, unable to process how their classmates were the superheroes of Paris or how they had just transformed and detransformed infront of them. The experience left them not only extremely shocked and in awe, but also dumbfounded at how they could have missed the signs that led to Marinette and Adrien being Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"We'll explain everything to you guys later, promise, but right now we have an akuma to catch," Ladybug turned to her partner, giving him her signature smile of confidence.

"Let's go kitty"

"Right behind you m'lady"


	7. Jealousy

"You would not believe what I heard last night" Alya exclaimed as they walked through the front doors of the school. She was practically bursting inside, unable to contain her excitement that she was sure Marinette would share.

"Let me guess, another amazing 'you won't believe it' Ladybug story," Marinette chuckled.

Alya elbowed her playfully. "You wish, but no," she quickly moved so she was infront of her friend, stopping her in her tracks. "I was talking to Mylene last night and she said she heard from Alix who heard it from Rose that Juleka's brother is going to be transferring to our school!" she burst enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear.

Marinette stared at her, blinking to process the information. "What?! Really? W-when?" she looked around for the boy, hoping he wasn't already there watching her awkwardness ensure. It was awkward enough the first time they met, she didn't want a repeat of it.

"Today!"

Marinette didn't respond, she couldn't respond. Ever since the music festival Marinette had found herself drawn toward the guitar playing brother of Juleka and she knew Alya saw it as well. But as much as she appreciated her help in getting her closer to him, she didn't think it was fair to fall for someone else. Her heart had already been captured by Adrien Agreste, whom she had already deemed the boy of her dreams. At least, that's what she always told herself.

Alya noticed her far off look and waved a hand infront of her face to bring her back to reality. "Aren't you excited? You get to be in the same class as Luka and I know how much of an attraction you guys had," she hinted, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Y-yeah, we did," she smiled nervously. "It'll be nice to see him again."

Alya chuckled as they entered the classroom, taking their seats as they waited for the other students to arrive. "Come on, don't tell me you aren't at least a bit excited to see him."

Marinette looked down at her hands, trying to hide the redness creeping into her cheeks. "Maybe a little," she admitted. She kept telling herself that Luka was just a friend and she loved Adrien, but the more she said it the more she questioned herself.

"Hey Marinette."

Marinette jumped in her seat. Her bluebell eyes met aqua ones her heart stopped. It was as if she had forgotten how to speak. "H-hi," she turned to Alya for assistance, but all she received in return was a big thumbs up followed by an empty seat.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Luka asked, seeing the seat open up beside her.

Marinette slid over so he could sit beside her, drumming her fingers on the desk nervously. "So…you go to our school now," Marinette pointed out, mentally screaming at herself for asking such an obvious question. "Uh, I mean, of course you do, you wouldn't be here, sitting next to me, talking to me if you didn't," she smiled awkwardly.

Luka chuckled. "You're a funny girl Marinette. But yeah, finally able to go to school like my sister."

Marinette stared at him, confusion evident in her eyes. "You mean you haven't gone to school before?"

"I did, just not a public one. I was home schooled," he sighed. "My mom always thought that public school wasn't a free enough choice, yet she let my sister go," he shrugged as if it never made a difference to him. While he had always wished to attend a real school, he enjoyed being on the boat where he could be free to explore his musical creativity.

"Oh," she glanced at him, looking away slightly. "Well, I'm glad you get to experience it now. You'll make a lot of great friends while you're here."

Luka placed his hand on top of hers, his lips curling into a smile. "I'm sure I will and I'm really glad you're here Marinette. It'll give us time to get to know each other some more, I hope"

Marinettes' heart fluttered, her cheeks burned with warmth, she felt like she couldn't speak and it was all because of Luka. She felt flattered at his words, that he wanted to get to know her better and be her friend. But she couldn't help but feel as if he was hitting at something more, something she had already wanted with another boy.

"I hope so too," she smiled. She always told herself that she wanted to be with Adrien, that he was the only one who held her heart, but Luka made her want to change her mind. Just maybe she should let Adrien go, just maybe there was someone else just as sweet and kind as he was, and just maybe it was Luka.

Luka looked away from Marinette's gaze when he noticed how long they had been staring at each other. "So, um, do you have any plans after school? Maybe we can do some homework together since I'm just getting to used to the whole, public school thing," he suggested.

"O-oh! Y-yeah, that sounds great, we can totally do homework together. But not together, together, like, it's not a date or anything. Just two friends, doing homework…together," she chuckled awkwardly. She could hear Alya's disapproving groan and she felt extremely embarrassed at her own words.

Luka laughed. "Keep that sense of humor Marinette," he pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote down his phone number, sliding it toward her. "Here, so we can keep in touch," he smiled.

Alya leaned over the tables, reaching for her best friends attention. She snapped her head in the bloggers direction, noticing her pointing toward a certain blonde haired model. Adrien. She almost completely forgotten about him she was so lost in conversation with Luka. Marinette quickly turned her attention back to Luka so as not to remind herself of the fact she was cheating on her love for Adrien.

Nino took his seat, giving Alya a sideways glance as he was pretty sure she didn't normally sit next to him. She gave him a sly smile, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder at Luka and Marinette who were chatting away, oblivious to the world around them.

"Hey Alya, I noticed Luka transferred here," Adrien said, taking his seat back from her.

"Yeah. He and Marinette have really hit it off, guess you got some competition huh Agreste," Alya teased, nudging him playfully.

Adrien chuckled, glad that Luka was already feeling welcomed into the school and who better to do so than Marinette. But something in the pit of his stomach didn't like the idea of Marinette and Luka being so friendly with one another. Was it because he was afraid of loosing her friendship? He had known Marinette for a good while now and knew she considered him one of her good friends, so that didn't make sense.

He turned to see the two chatting away and from the corner of his eye he caught Luka handing his number over to Marinette. He knew this wasn't a big deal, they were friends, why wouldn't she get his number. But Adrien felt as if he should have been the one to give Marinette his number. He should be the one making her laugh, making her beautiful smile come to life.

Adrien shook his head. What was he thinking. He was in love with Ladybug, that was the only person who held his heart and made him feel so loved and wanted. But the more he saw how Luka made Marinette smile, the more he wanted to be in his place.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien turned to face her. "I have some time before my fencing class after school, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something."

Marinette's gaze flickered between Luka and Adrien. She didn't want to say no to hanging out with the Adrien Agreste, but she knew she couldn't just bail on Luka. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "S-sorry Adrien, I already agreed to work on homework with Luka. M-maybe another time," she suggested.

"Alright," Adrien nodded, turning back around to face the front of the classroom.

Marinette turned back to Luka, but she couldn't focus on what he was saying. Her mind was reeling back to Adrien. He had sounded disappointed when she declined his offer and she could see it in his eyes. But there was also something else. His eyes held another emotion when she spoke of Luka, when he looked at him. She could have sworn she saw jealousy. But that was impossible, Adrien wouldn't be jealous of Luka…would he?

Nino had heard the conversation and he could tell it had been tense, if not awkward. He had never heard his best friend be that harsh toward someone, nor had he heard his voice hold that much emotion. "Dude, you aren't jealous of Luka, are you?" Nino asked, concerned for his best friend. He knew he was crushing on some girl, and while he wouldn't ever tell him, he knew it certainly wasn't Marinette. He wouldn't have been his wing man when he had a crush on her if he did. But witnessing the unusual look of jealousy on his face, Nino knew something was up.

Adrien laughed cooly. "No, of course not. What would give you that impression?"

Nino shrugged. "Sounded like you were getting jealous of Luka and Marinette, but hey, what do I know," he said, deciding it best to let him sort out whatever was going on in his mind on his own. After all, he knew he would talk to him about it when he was ready.

"I'm not jealous," Adrien murmured, but the tone of his voice said otherwise.

* * *

It's still Saturday! I'm on time, I swear! I got a bit caught up in some personal life stuff, so I wasn't able to finish writing and editing this chapter until a few hours ago.

This chapter was suggested by Maeoki a while back. The original idea for Jealousy was Adrien being jealous of a random new kid flirting with Marinette, however since Luka's appearance, I thought; Hey, let's make him the new kid, it's perfect!

I'll be getting to all the suggestions and requests made when the story was first created which included a part 2 and 3 to this chapter, so be on the look out!


	8. Set Up

Alya leaned up against Nino's side with a long, drawn out sigh. Her eyes were glued to the TV as it replayed the latest akuma attack capturing Ladybug and Chat Noirs action as they saved Paris. Even though it had been almost a month, she was still in awe every time she saw the superhero duo end their save with not only a fist bump, but a kiss.

Since they first started working together it was easy to see how the flirted and teased one another, how Chat would make advances only to be rejected by Ladybug. They were oblivious to their real feelings for each other for such a long time, no one believed they would catch on. But, almost a month ago they realized their feelings and announced it on live TV that they were officially a couple.

The whole situation reminded her of her own oblivious friends. Despite the struggles, Ladybug and Chat Noir overcame the hurdles and became Paris' number one item and yet, Marinette and Adrien couldn't seem to jump over the first one.

"Don't you think Marinette and Adrien would make a cute couple? Kind of like Ladybug and Chat Noir," she sighed. Even though she was starting to loose hope about her two best friends ever becoming an item, she still held onto some hope.

"It's never going to happen," Nino pointed out, never taking his eyes off the broadcast. "Marinette is way too shy around Adrien and he's so wrapped up in keeping his father happy he's oblivious of her feelings," he reminded her.

"Yeah, you're right," Alya sighed in defeat. She hated to admit it, but he WAS right. They were just too different, too oblivious of each other to realize what was right infront of their faces. Alya shifted in her seat to face Nino as a lightbulb went off in her mind. "What if we give them a push in the right direction?"

Nino stared at her unresponsive. "What, like we help them?"

Alya moved closer, looking him dead in the eye. "You said it yourself, they're too shy and oblivious around each other to ever notice their feelings. But, if we set them up on, say, a date then they'll have to see that they're suppose to be together!"

There was a long pause between them before a response was made. "I don't know…" Nino fiddled with his headphones. "Marinette and Adrien…they're our best friends and I would hate to see them get hurt because of us" he said. "Besides, shouldn't we just let them figure it out on their own pace?"

"Come on Nino," Alya prodded, trying to push him onboard. "It's perfect. We'll talk to them and convince them to go to the Eiffel Tower with us, but when they get there we'll make an excuse to leave. After that, they'll realize it's just the two of them and they'll have to spend the night together!"

Nino sighed, wondering what he should do. On one hand, he didn't want to hurt his friends, especially if the idea backfired. He just couldn't stand to see them mad at him and Alya forever. On the other hand, if they didn't try something they may never realize anything and they'll become lost causes.

"I just don't know if-" he was quickly silenced with a finger pressed against his lips. Unable to say a word, he could only watch in horror as Alya was already starting to dial Marinette's number.

* * *

"Awww, come on bugaboo, don't be like that," Adrien tried to grab Marinette's attention but every time he looked at her, she looked away. He gave Plagg and Tikki a pleading look of help, hoping they would be able to aid him, but no suck luck. "I told you, it was an accident. I was saving your life," he protested.

Marinette crossed her arms firmly, staring out the window so as to avoid his gaze. "Saving my life or not, you threw me into the river! I had that akuma too!," she countered.

Earlier that day they had encountered a rather tough akuma, one that was close to harming Ladybug. Chat Noir, being swift on his feet, pushed her over the fencing and into the river to save her from getting hurt by the villain. While his quick thinking saved his lady, it didn't award him any brownie points.

"I told you she wouldn't forgive you," Plagg taunted with a snicker.

Adrien glared at his kwami, swatting him away as he was rather unhelpful toward the situation. He turned his attention back toward his girlfriend, giving her the best sad cat eyes he could muster. "You can't be mad at me forever…I'll do anything to make it up to you."

Marinette looked at him, tussling his hair with a cute smile plastered on her face. "You know I could never be mad at you forever, you're my kitty" she brushed his hair back, brushing her lips against his forehead. "Especially when you're making cat eyes like that," she giggled.

Adrien perked up at the sounds of her laughter, signature Chat Noir grin spreading across his face. "Maybe I should make cat eyes all the time" he wiggled his eyebrows playfully. In one swift movement he was face to face with his love, their faces inches apart from one another, her hands grasping the collar of his shirt.

"Maybe you should" she teased, her lips grazing his ever so slightly. The two stayed like that for a few minutes, never taking their eyes off of each other. However, the moment was disrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing.

Tikki flew toward Marinette carrying her cell, it's screen flashing with Alya's name. She handed it to her miraculous holder, pressing the answer button with one of her paws.

"Hey Alya, what's up?"

"I was thinking, we haven't had a girls night in such a long time," Alya started, barely letting her best friend get a word out. "So, I was hoping we could go out tonight. I heard there's a great band playing at the Eiffel Tower."

"Alright, it sounds like a lot of fun," Marinette agreed. It was true she hadn't been spending as much time with Alya as she used to since she started dating Adrien, so she owed it to her friend.

"Great! I'll meet you there at six and wear something nice, like nice nice," Alya insisted.

Before Marinette could protest the call ended. "Alya want's to hang out tonight at the Eiffel tower, she said there's a band playing," Marinette said, staring at her phone curiously. Alya would never insist on her wearing really nice clothing and she certainly hadn't heard about any concerts occuring that night, but she wasn't going to turn down a night with her best friend.

Adrien carefully slipped her phone away from her hands, setting it on the desk. He grabbed her by the waist, rolling her chair closer to his so their faces were meeting once again. "I like talking to Alya as much as you do, but her call was quite inconvenient," he purred, leaning in closer to her, his lips grazing hers. As fast as their moment resumed, it was interrupted by a cell phone ringing.

Plagg flew over from his spot on Marinette's bed and threw Adrien's phone at him, hitting the side of his face. Before he could get scolded he scurried away to his safe spot, only to get scolded by Tikki.

Adrien glared at his kwami, but he quickly calmed at the sound of his girlfriends giggles. He quickly answered the phone, spinning around in his chair a few times.

"Dude, we need a guys night," Nino said quickly. "As much as I love Alya, I need some space and what better way than to spend it with my best friend" he said, trying to sound desperate for some guy time while being given the death glare from Alya.

"Sure, whatever you want to do, I'm there," Adrien promised.

"I heard there was this awesome band playing tonight at the Eiffel Tower. What do you think?"

Adrien didn't respond, his gaze locked with Marinette's. He was pretty sure he had heard Alya say the same thing to Marinette when she had called moments before, but he didn't question it too much. "Uh, yeah, sure, that sounds like fun."

"Awesome! I'll meet you there at six and it'd be cool to wear something nice. You know, you never know when you might run into someone important," he chuckled, quickly ending the call before he could further make a fool of himself.

Adrien set his phone down, staring at his lady. "That was odd. Nino also wants to hang out tonight at the Eiffel Tower to see some band," he said, wondering what was going on.

"Hmmm…" Marinette thought about the situation, wondering what their friends could be up to. It was normal for them to call, they were all best friends after all, but right after each other? Not only that but they suggested the same place to see the same band. It was a little too coincidental for her liking and she had a very good idea as to why. "I think they're trying to set us up on a date."

"But why would they do that? We're already dating," he pointed out, figuring it should be obvious they didn't need to go through all that trouble.

"We know that, but they don't. When Ladybug and Chat Noir started dating a month ago and we decided not to tell anyone you and I were dating so as not to draw suspicion," she reminded him.

Adrien leaned back in his chair, throwing his hands behind his head. "So, what do we do?" he asked, wondering what kind of trick she had up her sleeve to get them out of their predicament this time.

"We go through with it and give them a surprise," she grinned, formulating a plan in her mind.

* * *

As six o'clock rolled around, Marinette and Adrien made their way to the Eiffel Tower. They were confident that their plan would work, after all they had spent all day working out the details to make sure it would go smoothly.

When Marinette got to the Eiffel Tower she looked around for Alya as if she would be there, pretty sure she was over acting. As if on cue, her phone rang, Alya's name scrawled across the top. "Hey Alya, where are you? I don't see you," she said, lacing her tone with worry.

"Oh, sorry girl, my parents need me to watch my sisters. It was short notice, you know," Alya said, holding back her excitement. She was so sure her plan would work, she was afraid she would blow it over a single phone call.

"Don't worry about it, it's a nice night, I'm sure there's something I can do," Marinette assured her as she spotted Adrien through the crowd of people. "Adrien is here," she sucked in a breath, sounding as panicked as she could.

Alya smirked against the phone. "Go to him, ask what he's doing there and if he's alone make your move!" she insisted. "You'll do great," she quickly hung up the phone, peeking over the top of the bush she was hiding behind.

Marinette sighed, shaking her head at Alya's antics. As much as she loved her best friend, sometimes she had too much confidence in her. She gave Adrien a half wave, her cheeks heating up when she saw him and she was pretty sure she saw hints of red against his face too. He was wearing a green button down shirt and dress pants with his hair slicked back. Was he trying to give her a heart attack?

"Hey Marinette. What are you doing here?," Adrien smiled causing her heart to melt. Even though he had given her that same smile a million times and he was her boyfriend, it still made her giddy inside.

"I was suppose to meet Alya here, but she just called saying she had to babysit her sisters," she informed him casually.

"Oh, well I was here meeting Nino, but he couldn't make it," Adrien let his gaze wander for a few moments before settling back on Marinette. "We shouldn't let this night go to waist though, why do we do something?" he suggested.

"Okay," Marinette smiled. Just her smile alone got his heart beating faster and he wondered how he was going to get through the night pretending they were just friends. Especially with the red dress she was wearing that framed her petite body perfectly and her hair, pulled out of its signature pigtails, was breathtaking at its true length. The night was going to kill him and Marinette owed him for it.

Silence hung in the air, neither one of them speaking for a while. They didn't want to jump straight into conversation, it would be too suspicious. After a few more moments of silence they decided to take a walk through the paths surrounding the Eiffel Tower, making small talk for a while as they strolled the grounds. Every so often they heard rustling, assuring them that their friends were following them.

"I told you this was a great idea," Alya pointed out to her boyfriend as they moved to the next bush, never taking their eyes off of the "oblivious" couple. "They're so cute together," she sighed dramatically.

Nino rolled his eyes, wondering why he had gotten himself into this situation. "They don't seem comfortable around each other though," he pointed out, having noticed that they kept a bit of space between them.

"Shhhh, it'll happen," Alya assured him, running to the next hiding spot she could find.

Adrien glanced at Marinette, never turning his head in her direction as he was sure Alya and Nino would catch the love struck look on his face. "Don't you think we should take this another step yet my lady, I mean, we've been walking with space between us for a while now," he pointed out quietly, growing tired of not being closer to her.

"Hold your whiskers," Marinette teased. She walked closer to him, her hand brushing up against his.

Just the sensation of her touch sent shivers up his spine and he felt as if he wouldn't be able to keep up the act all night. "Hey, it's a beautiful night, you can even see the stars," Adrien said. He spotted an empty space on the Champ de Mars and motioned for her to follow him as he laid in the grass, Marinette laying opposite him as they stared up at the stars.

"Nino! Do you see that?!" Alya grabbed his shoulders, shaking him in excitement.

"What? They're just hanging out together," Nino said, adjusting his glasses. "They've been doing it all night," he said.

Alya groaned, rubbing her temples slowly. "They're not JUST hanging out together, they're so very close to each other and Marinette isn't freaking out!" she exclaimed, causing a lot of people to look in her direction. Her cheeks began heating up from the sudden attention and she quickly shrunk back behind her bush. "This is big Nino, big!"

Nino looked over the bushes, squinting to get a better look. The more he stared, the more he noticed what his girlfriend was saying. It was true they had hung out together before and aside form Marinette's stuttering, they managed to be around each other rather normally. However this was different, they were so close to each other and he could see genuine happiness radiating from his best friend when he was with her.

"Wow," he breathed.

Marinette and Adrien laid in the grass star gazing for quite a while, pointing out different constellations and discussing various topics with one another. It was so odd to Alya and Nino, watching them have full conversations with each other without Adrien becoming flustered or Marinette stuttering. But none the less it excited them to see their best friends becoming closer with each other.

Eventually they moved on from their star gazing, deciding to push their plan into the next stage. They spent a good portion of their night searching for Andre's Ice Cream Cart and eventually found it back where they had started. The Eiffel Tower! As they were ordering their ice creams, they continued to assure Andre they were friends, but he was insistent that they were made for each other.

"Andre's Ice Cream…no way," Nino breathed, adjusting his hat. "I can't believe it, they got Andre's Ice Cream…together," he stated.

Alya didn't answer, she couldn't. Her two best friends, if she could even call them that anymore, had just gotten Andre's Ice Cream together. Andre's Ice Cream, which is said to bring people together. "I know…" she said slowly, unable to process what was going on. There was no way that they would get Andre's Ice Cream together unless they believed it would bring them together and yet, they continued to insist they were only friends.

They quickly followed their friends as they headed to the park. Neither of them quite sure what was going on anymore. Not only were they oddly calm around each other, but it was becoming increasingly harder for Nino and Alya to figure out what was going on between them as they had never see their friends acting as they were.

Adrien led Marinette to the fountain in the middle of the park, the same fountain he had photoshoots at. He sat on the edge, motioning for her to sit beside him which she happily obliged to. He stared at his lady, her bluebell eyes sparkled in the moonlight making his knees go weak. There was just something about her that made him fall madly in love with her every time he saw her.

"My La-Marinette," he corrected himself, gently placing his hand onto of hers. "I quite enjoyed our night together,"

Alya leaned forward from behind the bushes, her eyes glued to the scene before her. Even Nino was intently focused on what was going on between his friends. It wasn't like them to act as they were, it was almost as if they were already a couple. But that was impossible, they had only spent one night together.

"I did too," Marinette moved closer to Adrien, closing the space between them. She could see Alya and Nino from the corner of her eye, but she quickly drew her attention back to Adrien. She could feel his hands on her waist, his touch sending shivers down her spine as she leaned in, her face inches from his. "I love you kitty," she murmured against his lips.

Adrien purred contently, unable to stop himself. "I love you too my lady," he mumbled, pressing his lips against hers. Her lips tasted like strawberries and it was intoxicating. He wanted more, he didn't want the moment to end, but to forever taste the strawberries from her lips.

Alya's jaw dropped when she saw them kiss, her heart pounding hard in her chest as she felt an overwhelming rush of excitement. She had expected them to spend the night together and perhaps even realize their feelings, but she was completely unprepared for them to kiss.

"Dude…" Nino couldn't form words he was so in shock. He knew it would take some time for them to figure things out, but he didn't think it would only take one night.

Marinette pulled away from Adrien, her eyes locked with his as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I hope Alya and Nino had a good night," she said, hoping he would catch on to her hint.

"Why don't we ask them," Adrien chuckled, looking straight at the two.

Alya burst out from the bushes first, rushing straight for the two. "What was that?!" she exclaimed, her eyes full of confusion, hurt and excitement. "We knew you guys were on a date, but we didn't expect…that!"

"Oh, so you knew?" Marinette hinted, raising a brow. She watched her expression instantly change to nervousness as she had just given away the fact they knew about their date.

"Well…umm…about that…"

"Yeah, we kind of set you guys up," Nino said, stating the obvious. "We didn't think you guys would ever end up together, so we tried to make it happen…" he chuckled, realizing how terrible of an idea it was. "Sorry."

Adrien laughed, motioning for his best friend to take a seat beside him. "It's okay, we knew and we set you guys up instead," he said, getting even more confused looks from them. "Marinette and I have been together for a while now and we were hanging out when you guys called us to hang out tonight. This whole thing was Marinette's idea, surprising you guys that is."

"What? Girl, you have some explaining to do," Alya said, sitting beside her with a grin on her face.

* * *

Thank you guys for being patient with this chapter! As you saw, it's quite a long one, over 3,000 words, and I wanted to do it well instead of rush it. I quickly skimmed it when I was editing it, so any mistakes are from that.

Demi clayton - I'm glad you're enjoying the stories so far!

Angelwings2002 - Thank you for your support!


	9. I Bet You

Marinette sat comfortably on the floor of her room, her sketchpad propped up against her knees. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she stared at the blank pages in concentration. Just the other day had announced that the school would be putting on a small fashion show to end the school year. But there were two rules everyone had to follow. Students had to make their own outfits and they had to draw inspiration from Hawkmoth's many akumatized villains.

She tapped the end of her pencil against her cheek, trying to think of a good villain to use as her inspiration. Usually ideas flowed easily for her and she didn't think the design concept would be too difficult considering she fought hand to hand with everyone one of them. But the ideas were blocked, as if a large stone was sitting in the middle of a stream, disrupting its flow.

Marinette sighed, tearing out a piece of paper and crumpling it into a ball. She tossed it across the room, watching it roll a few times. When she looked up from the ball of paper, her blue eyes met piercing green and she could feel her cheeks heating up, despite how cool it was in her room.

"Sorry," Adrien scratched the back of his neck nervously, realizing he had just been caught staring at her. "It's just, kind of cute the way you stick your tongue out when you're concentrating," he admitted, looking anywhere but at her face.

"It is not and besides, I'm just having a hard time coming up with a design for the schools fashion show," she admitted, setting her sketch pad beside her. "I've fought all of Hawkmoth's akumas, seen their designs up close and I can't find inspiration for my own," she groaned in frustration. It seemed like such a simple task, especially for the hero of Paris and yet, it was almost impossible to complete.

"You know, I do help with the akumas, right?" Adrien raised a brow, wondering if she had forgotten they were partners. True, they didn't always see eye to eye when it came to taking down an akuma, but they worked well together and always got the job done.

Marinette stared at him as if he had suddenly hit his head. "You're good at distracting them and at getting caught in their powers," she reminded him. "Need I remind you of a few instances," she crossed her arms, a rather unamused expression crossing her face.

"It's not my fault. Sometimes my cat instincts get in the way," Adrien defended. "And sometimes you let your guard down or you're thinking too much about a lucky charm," he accused.

It was true, sometimes the two heroes got in each others way and were not helpful toward one another. Chat tended to get into trouble with the akumas and provoke them enough that he becomes part of their plots to get their akumas. But Ladybug also had her faults, becoming too distracted or focused that she would forget about other things going on around it. It was easy to get caught up in the hero world, especially when you had your own duty to fulfill while trying to work with someone else's.

"I have to be focused, otherwise I can't use my luck charm to the fullest and I have a lot of things to think about at once," Marinette shot back. "I could probably be a better Chat Noir than you are and do a better job of it," she said confidently, sticking her tongue out in a teasing manner.

"Oh really? I'd like to see you try," he challenged. "And I'm sure I could be a better Ladybug, after all, it's not so hard to swing a yo-yo and use an item handed to you on a silver platter," he scoffed.

Marinette leaned forward, narrowing her gaze at him. "You want to bet?" she grinned, knowing she would win the challenge. "Or are you afraid I'm right," she smirked, figuring he would back out almost instantly.

"I'm not afraid of a challenge," Adrien flashed his signature Chat Noir grin. "You're on."

The two heroes shook hands in agreement, each of them handing over their respected miraculous to their kwami's who then gave them to each other. Chat's ring easily fit on Marinette's finger and she couldn't help but tilt it this way and that to get a good look at it in the light. She looked up at Adrien, a smirk crossing her lips as she realized he couldn't wear her miraculous.

"You know Adrien," she drew out his name, prolonging the pain he would experience. "You have to get your ears pierced," she chuckled, unable to help herself. It wasn't every day that a guy, let alone Adrien Agreste, got their ears pierced for something like a bet. "I mean, unless you don't want to."

"No, I'm getting them pierced. After all, how bad can it be," he said rather confidently. Sure he had never seen anyone get their ears pierced, but he had never heard anyone complain about it either.

* * *

Adrien gently touched his ear lobes, wincing in pain. "That wasn't so bad," he said, trying to push away his internal fear. It wasn't a comfortable feeling having a needle stabbed through your skin, but it was bearable for the few seconds while it was happening.

Marinette laughed. "Yes it was, you stared screaming even before they started," she reminded him. She had to practically drag him into the place and he kept asking questions to lengthen the time. Eventually she got him to go for it and before the needle even touched his skin he shrieked.

"At least it's over now," he sighed in relief, glad that it would be his first and last time getting anything pierced. He was about to take a quick nap from the ordeal he had just experienced when he heard Marinette on the phone with Alya. Internally he was groaning as she probably had an akuma update for them, but at the same time he was ready to see just what their little bet had in store for them.

Marinette turned to face Adrien, confidence spreading over her face. "Ready to go partner?" she grinned.

"I was ready even before you were," Adrien smirked. He stood in the center of the room, ready to take on the responsibility of being Ladybug, if just for one day. "Tikki, spots on," he called for the ladybug kwami. She was instantly sucked into the earrings, Ladybug's costume and identity now his own.

"I am, ManBug!" he announced, looking into the mirror. The costume was tight while still feeling loose and flexible, something that he always liked about the design. It had the same pattern and color scheme, nothing seeming to have changed costume wise. But unlike when he was Chat Noir, the front of his hair stayed swept back instead of being a mess in his face.

When he turned around, his jaw dropped and his brain melted into nothing. Marinette, or should he say the new Chat Noir, was quite different than his costume. The leather suit clung against her body, defining all her curves and she wore heels instead of flat shoes. Her eyes were vibrant blue, more so than usual and more cat like. Her hair was pulled out of its pigtails and into a ponytail, tied with a blue ribbon.

"I'll be Chat Rose, now are you going to just stare all day, we have an akuma to catch," she reminded him, making her way onto the balcony.

ManBug quickly followed her. "Okay, let's get in there and get that akuma!" he swung his yo-yo and threw it onto a near by building, managing to secure it around a chimney. "Not bad for a-" his words were cut short as he accidentally tugged too hard on the string and it started to retract, flinging it off of the balcony and toward the nearest wall. He threw the yo-yo again, swinging himself away. "Not today wall!" he called back in triumph. In his victory, he had forgotten to watch where he was going and smacked into a wall like a pancake.

Chat Rose could only laugh at poor ManBug. "Not as easy as you thought huh?" she yelled toward him. "Okay, now to get onto the roof," she turned the staff different ways to find a way to get it to extend, but she couldn't see anything. "Maybe if I-" she managed to get it a few feet longer, but it was barely enough to get her to the closest roof top. "Just a little more," she tried to repeat what she had done, but in doing so the staff extended more than what she had anticipated and the weight caused it to tip over.

She grasped the staff for dear life as it vaulted her across the street and into a tree. "Not what I had in mind," she balanced on the branch, steadying herself so she wouldn't fall. The staff retracted to its normal size and she decided to try again. "Okay, nice and easy…" It extended slowly but surely and she was able to get it to reach the ground. She slid down it like a fire pole, glad to be on the ground again.

"Now to go find him," she tucked the staff away, deciding it best to travel by foot. "Just how do I find him," she muttered, running through the streets to see if she could spot him. Her cat ears twitched and she stopped abruptly. The sounds of girlish screams rang in her ears and she knew it was ManBug. Chat Rose quickly made her way toward him and found the hero tangled up in the string of the yo-yo.

"Oh, hi," ManBug smiled sheepishly as he hung from the lamp post. "So…how's it going?" he asked rather casually, trying not to sound desperate for help. He tugged on the string a few times and it finally retracted, dropping him to the ground.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir!" the akuma laughed as it spotted them, aiming its weapon right at the two. "I am Toy Maker and you will soon become part of my collection. Then your miraculous will be mine!"

ManBug quickly got to his feet, running as fast as he could. "So, what's the plan?" he asked frantically, dodging blast after blast of the akuma's weapon.

"Why are you asking me, you have the luck," she reminded him, turning into an alley way so they could escape the Toy Makers sight. Chat Rose looked around for a way out and pointed to the roof above them. She extended her staff, though a little longer than she had wanted, and hopped onto the roof.

ManBug swung his yo-yo and caught it around the chimney of the building, carefully pulling himself up. "Okay, let's go," he clipped it to his waist and ran after the akuma, ready to get some action. He glanced back to make sure his lady was catching up and she was right on his tail, not literally for once.

They ran across the roof tops until there were no more roofs to cross. Chat Rose extended her staff again and swung it like a bat, hoping to knock the akuma out of the sky. But she didn't account for the weight and missed by a foot. Her swing went full around and smacked ManBug, causing him to loose his balance and fall off the roof.

ManBug tried to grip the building with his claws, but he realized too late he didn't have claws. For the second time that day, poor ManBug went splat onto the ground like a bug. He slowly got back onto his feet, feeling as if his life was now going to be reduced to being smacked onto the pavement. He pulled himself back onto the roof, glaring at his girlfriend.

"I'll take care of it, okay?" he gripped the yo-yo, swinging it as fast as he could before throwing it toward the Toy Master. He watched it soar into the air, getting some great distance and almost reaching the villain. But his gaze was torn away from it as Chat Rose called his name, pointing at his hand. Perplexed, he looked down, unsure of what he was suppose to be looking at. Then he panicked.

While he had managed to throw the yo-yo toward the akuma, he actually threw the yo-yo. Having not been used to the thin wire used as a string, it slipped out of his hand and he was too proud of himself to have noticed he accidentally let go of it.

"I'll catch up to the akuma, you get your yo-yo back," Chat Rose said, using the staff to vault across the street and jump onto the akuma. The two struggled back and forth, Chat Rose trying to hold on for dear life and the akuma trying to shake her off. After a tough five minutes, they landed on the Eiffel Tower. The Toy Master pulled out his weapon and fired it at her, but she quickly dodged it and ran toward him, swinging the staff like a mad person in hopes of hitting him.

"I got it!" ManBug swung himself onto the Eiffel Tower, pride gleaming in his eyes. He glanced at his lady, panic hitting his core as he saw the staff coming right at him again. He dodged just as she was about to hit him, sighing in relief when he missed her swing. Her front swing. When she swung backwards, she smacked across the face and he fell off of the Eiffel Tower.

ManBug tried to swing the yo-yo onto a beam, but he couldn't figure out how to with the air pushing it back toward him. He glancing at the ground, really not wanting to kiss the pavement for a third time that day. He swung the yo-yo as hard as he could, wrapping it around one of the beams. Sighing in relief, he pulled himself up and started climbing back to the top.

Chat Rose managed to get the akuma, causing him to stumble backwards. He got to his feet again, pulling out a toy block from his coat pocket.

"Really? A block?" Chat Rose sighed, wondering if the akumas would get any smarter yet. The akuma threw the toy block at her, hitting it with one of his weapons and in seconds it grew to larger than life size.

Chat Rose tried to look for a way around the block, but she couldn't see any other way to get by. "Guess I get to try this out," she stepped back a few paces to give herself room. "Cataclysm!" She held the ball of energy in her hand and rushed toward the block, punching it with all her might. The block disintegrated into dust and she could see the akuma running away. Just as she was about to run after him, she saw Adrien climbing over the railing.

"Where have you been?!" she screamed, wondering where he was during the fight she had to handle by herself.

ManBug glared at her, dusting himself off. "Well, I would have been here had you not knocked me to the ground again!" he argued. From the corner of his eye he saw the Toy Maker getting away and swung the yo-yo. "I go this!" he put an arm infront of her before she could make another move and tried to again wrap up the akuma.

The Toy Maker pulled out a small shield and made it grow to a more useable size. He deflected the yo-yo, causing it to ricochet back toward the two heroes and smacked Chat Rose in the forehead. She stumbled and fell back, groaning at the feeling of hard metal against her back.

"Now who's missing out," ManBug taunted with a satisfied smirk.

Chat Rose glared at him. "Just use the lucky charm," she stood, brushing herself off. "And hurry," she said, watching the Toy Master started to get away again.

"Okay," ManBug focused, ready to use his special power. "Luck Charm!" he could see the object forming and managed to catch it in his hands. "A jack in the box?" he looked at it curiously. "How do I use it?" he looked around for any kinds of hints, but he just couldn't figure out how to make it work.

Chat Rose hopped from one foot to the other, watching the Toy Master get away from them. "Come on, hurry up," she pressed, not wanting to loose sigh of their akuma. "We can't stay here for too long," she said, continuing to rush him.

ManBug thought, looking around frantically for a way to use it, but nothing was coming to him. "This is a lot harder than it looks, okay!" he admitted, hanging his head in defeat. "Honestly, I don't know how you do this. It's so hard!" he handed her the toy, running a hand through his hair in frustration. As much as he hated to admit loosing, he couldn't keep trying to be someone he wasn't. "I can't be a better Ladybug than you, I'm sorry I doubted your abilities. And we're not going to catch the akuma quickly like this either," he said.

Chat Rose set the toy down, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're right, we can't beat the akuma like this. I'm sorry I said I could be a better Chat Noir too, you're good at your job and you do it well. I mean, it's really hard to control this," she held out the staff, chuckling to herself. "If we're going to do this thing, we need to stop arguing about who's better and work as one unit."

The two shook hands, agreeing that they needed to stop arguing about petty things and really work together. They acknowledged that they were partners and each of them was capable of being themselves, their normal hero selves. They dropped their transformations, switching back their miraculous, to their kwami's delight and transformed into their proper hero selves.

"Feels good to be back," Chat Noir grinned, kissing his staff in joy. "Though, I will miss seeing you in that costume," he wiggled his eyebrows, showing off his signature grin.

"Nope, not again," she chuckled, knowing how much he missed it already. "You ready to get that akuma?" Ladybug smiled, picking up the toy that the lucky charm had gifted her.

Chat nodded, ready to put an end to the Toy Maker. "Ready when you are my lady," he smirked, twirling his staff with ease.

"Let's go then," Ladybug held the toy firmly under her arm as they went after the villain, jumping and swinging and vaulting across the streets of Paris. It was good to be themselves again, to know how their powers and weapons worked as if they had been doing it a thousand times. And even though it was only a few hours that they had switched kwami's for their little bet, it taught them a lesson and they were even more grateful for each other and their abilities.

* * *

Thank you guys for being so patient this last few chapters! You guys are awesome!

Theivi - Thank You! I try my best to write them well so that you can enjoy the story to the fullest!

icy-rain499 - Awesome guess!

Angelwings2002 - Very close! I originally was going to have them switch bodies, but I have other akuma filled chapters in the works, so I wanted to save my akuma attack ideas! I'm glad you could enjoy some comedy as well, I try and add some humor to each chapter!


	10. The Hardest Goodbye

"Well, we did it guys! We've officially graduated!" Alya lifted her glass in the air, sharing cheers with her friends. It seemed like yesterday that they had just become friends and now they were spending Saturday afternoon at the Dupain-Chang baker, reminiscing about their four long years together. Just a few weeks ago they had their graduation from College Francoise Dupont and had received their university acceptance letters.

"I can't believe it's all over," Nino took a bite of his croissant. "I mean, we just spent four years together and now we're all heading off on our own," he pointed out. The group has spent so much time together over the last few years, taking trips across Europe and hanging out almost every moment they could. It was rare not to see them all together.

Marinette sipped her drink, stirring the straw slowly. "But we'll always be in contact with each other and we can spend breaks and holidays hanging out," she reminded them. It was true, they wouldn't be totally alone. Technology allowed them to stay in contact at all hours of the day and they would make sure to spend a little time together during each break.

Adrien smiled. He was always glad for Marinette's optimism, despite going off to different universities they would all still be best friends and strong friendships like theirs couldn't be broken. "Speaking of, where did you decide to go Nino?" he asked his best friend.

Nino wiped the crumbs off his face, making sure to swallow his bite of food. "I'm going to a music school in Evreux to hone my skills and become a famous DJ artist," he said proudly. As silly as his dream sounded, Nino was quite good at being a DJ. He had done music for several events throughout the years and never failed to impress. It made sense for him to do what he loved, even if it didn't seem prosperous.

"I'm going to Evreux for school as well, not far from Nino actually," Alya said. "They have a program there for journalism so one day I can host my own news channel." Having been running the Ladyblog for quite some time now, Alya had found a talent for gathering interesting stories and sharing her findings with the world. Though she was hesitant at first, with Marinette's encouragement she felt confident that being a journalist was what she wanted to do.

"I know you guys will do great. You both have amazing talent in your fields," Marinette assured them. She always noticed how much they enjoyed what they do and how well they did it. It was no secret that they were going to continue doing what they loved as a profession.

Alya folded her hands over the table, leaning on them slightly. "So do you girl. You're going to be an amazing fashion designer," she grinned. It was true, Marinette had a skill for designing. Every year she got better at her talent and had even interned with Gabriel Agreste for her senior year.

Marinette sipped on her drink for a long while. "What are you going to study Adrien?" she asked, wanting to avoid the topic of her studies.

"Well, I don't know yet. My father wants me to continue modeling, but I want to do something else," Adrien said. As much as he had tried to please his father, he was going to be leaving home and living on his own which meant he wanted to make a name for himself. "I just don't know what it'll be yet. I've gotten accepted for a few schools around Paris and one or two in Montargis and Melun, but I just don't know yet," he admitted. "What about you Marinette? Where are you going to study fashion design?"

Marinette twirled her straw a few times, watching the ice cubes swirl around in the cup. "Well, it's…not really close near here," she admitted, trying to dance around the topic. "It's kind of far away," she said.

"We're all going kind of far, but we'll all be keeping in touch," Nino reminded her. Despite them going to different places and being farther away, he knew they would always remain friends. Distance couldn't separate their strong friendship.

"Yeah, it's not like we'll forget about each other, we're all too close to do that," Adrien said, smiling at her. Despite the fact they were good friends and she lost her stutter around him, the charming smile of his still made her heart skip a beat.

Marinette sighed. "But it's a lot farther than you guys," she said, feeling as if she would become forgotten by them. "Like, a lot," she emphasized.

Alya groaned impatiently. "Come on Marinette, just tell us," she encouraged, wanting to hear where her best friend was heading.

"Umm," Marinette hesitated, taking a few quick sips of her drink. "I'm going to Italy," she said quickly, closing her eyes to lessen the sting. After a few moments of silence she slowly opened her eyes, unable to look away from their expressions. Each one of them had shock and surprise written all over their faces. "They have one of the top fashion schools and I couldn't say no to their generous scholarship either," she said slowly, playing with her braid.

"We're not disappointed you're going so far away," Alya promised. "It's just, we didn't expect you to choose somewhere so far away," she said. They all knew Marinette was going to pick the best place to go for her career, but they knew she was a Paris girl, she loved the city and they didn't think she would go so far from home.

"But we support you none the less," Nino promised. He looked toward his best friend who still hadn't said a word toward Marinette. He gave him a light kick on the shin to get his attention, hinting that he should say something.

Adrien stared, unable to say anything. He was glad Marinette had picked the best place to get a good education. He knew she would be successful and Italy did have one of the best fashion schools according to his father, so it was a perfect fit. But he felt his stomach twist in knots when she had officially said she would be going to another country. He would miss her. A lot.

"We're all here to support you Marinette and we'll all spend as much time as we can together before then," Adrien promised. He gave her a sincere smile which she happily returned. Just seeing her happy made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, but he pushed the feeling back. There was no reason to get worked up over it now and they were just friends after all.

* * *

Marinette zipped up her suitcase, rolling it to the side of her room where the rest of her items were packed away. She fell back in her chair, staring at the pile of suitcases sitting in the corner of the room. Looking around, her room felt empty, as if she had never lived there in the first place. She was sure going to miss her home and her friends, but she was glad that they had been so supportive of her decision.

"Tikki, I can't believe I'm leaving for Italy tomorrow," she sighed, staring at her wall of photos. She was going to take them with her to school, but she had yet to do so as she wanted to savor the memories that each photo held.

Tikki sat on her desk, watching her miraculous holder. "I know it's sad, but you'll always have your friends and all these great memories," she reminded her, looking at the photos with her. She knew how much her friends meant to her and she wouldn't be seeing them again for a few months. But it wasn't just Marinette who was hurting. Tikki wouldn't be able to see Plagg for a while and she would sure miss that cheese loving kwami.

Marinette sighed, her eyes flicking between photos as she reminisced over old memories. There was a photo of the four of them infront of the colosseum when they took a two week trip to Rome the summer before their junior year. Alya was holding the camera, trying to position it so the architecture was behind them and Nino just kept making funny faces. As usual Adrien was professional, looking just as good as he did whenever he got his photo taken and he had one arm casually around her shoulder.

The next photo was during a sleep over for Adrien's birthday. It took a lot of convincing, but his father allowed him to let them stay for the night so he could experience a true birthday with friends doing whatever he wanted. They were all in their pajamas, sitting around on the floor of Adrien's room, telling stories to each other. She had never seen him as happy and free as he had been that day and she was glad he could enjoy being a kid with his friends.

Of course they had to get a photo of their graduation. The four of them in their caps and gowns, holding up their diplomas, grinning like idiots. That day was so unreal to her, but now it seemed like a distant memory. As if it had happened so many years ago.

Marinette reached for two photos and took them off her wall, setting them beside one another to compare the photos. One was of their first day hanging out together. Alya had insisted they get a photo together and she had printed a copy for each of them. The other photo was a recreation of the first, taken only a week ago in the same place as the original. She couldn't believe how much had changed since then.

Alya had cut her hair to her shoulders and got highlights put in which made her look more professional look. Nino had allowed his hair to grow out a bit, but he kept it neatly styled and had stopped wearing hats all the time. Though he never gave up his signature headphones. Adrien had let his hair grow and it had become long enough to tie back into a small ponytail which always made her laugh when she saw it. And she herself had let her hair out of its pigtails, letting it loose or tying it into a side braid. She even started wearing more makeup, but she never stopped wearing her own designs.

"I'm going to miss them so much," she murmured. She could feel a tear slip from the corner of her eye and the gentle touch of Tikki's paw wipe it away. Even though she wouldn't be seeing them as often as she was used to, they would still keep in touch and she had her kwami to keep her company.

* * *

Adrien stared out his window, watching the cars pass by along the streets. The last few months seemed to have gone by in a blur and he didn't want it to end. After all they had been through together, they were heading off in different directions to pursue their dreams. He was grateful for their friendship, for their acceptance and he couldn't have asked for better friends.

"Cheer up kid, you'll see them again," Plagg said, munching on a triangle of cheese. Despite him being a lazy kwami, he knew how close Adrien was to his friends and how much he would miss them. After all, they spent so much time together they were all inseparable. Not to mention how much he and Tikki talked about it.

"I know Plagg, but it's hard, you know?" he sat at his desk. He opened one of his drawers which was filled to the brim with photos. He remembered all of the moments from each photo fondly and it made him smile when he thought of them. All the laughs they shared together, the tears that were shed during the hard times and the moments of support when things got tough.

They supported each other and he was going to miss them all. He rummaged through the photos and pulled out two identical ones. It was amazing to see how much time had flown by, especially when he saw the pictures side by side. They had all changed so much, not only with their personalities, but their looks. He remembered when the original photo was taken, they had just started to become friends and Alya had insisted they get their photo taken. Even though he refused, he was glad he did it.

Staring at the other photo his lips curled into a smile. He remembered when Alya had long hair and ever year it got shorter and shorter. Nino still had his headphones, but he stopped wearing his hat which surprised him when he saw his best friend for the first time without it. Adrien remembered being scolded by his father when he had started to let his hair get long, but he eventually got used to it, even saying it worked well with the photos.

When he looked at Marinette his heart beat a little faster. When she started wearing more make up it really defined her features and he couldn't stop staring for a few days. Almost a week after that she let her hair down and he was taken back by how beautiful it was, perfectly framing her face. Somedays he missed it when it was down, but he liked the side braid just as much.

"Admit it, you like her," Plagg said, sitting onto of his computer monitor. "I see the way you look at her and talk about her. Even more than Ladybug," he commented. For as much as he talked about Ladybug, he started to talk even more about Marinette. The same look in his eyes he had for Ladybug he had for Marinette.

Adrien didn't believe his kwami. They were good friends and he was just sad they were going to be so far away from each other, but he didn't think of her as anything more. The longer he looked at the photo, the more his heart ached and he couldn't imagine not being around her as much anymore.

He would miss her beautiful blue eyes that held so much warmth and kindness. He would miss the smile she held every day that made his heart melt. He would miss her cheerful personality and the way she made him feel wanted and special. Was this what it felt like when a friend went away? No, the feeling was too strong and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and not let go.

"Plagg," Adrien stared at Marinette's picture. He could hear the rhythm of his heart in his ears and feel warmth spreading up his neck toward his face. "I"m going to really miss Marinette…I love her," he admitted, finally realizing his feelings for his friend. "And I'm going to tell her before she leaves for Italy."

* * *

Marinette unloaded the car, setting her suitcases on the sidewalk. It had been an hour ride to the airport and her parents had been teary eyed all the way there. They had spent their last night together watching home family videos of when she was younger and she had spent the rest of the night crying. Missing the old days.

She heard another car pull up behind theirs and saw Alya in the drivers seat. She was thankful that they had made the trip to the airport to see her off. She wanted to savor those last few moments she had with them before she would be getting on the plane.

Alya waved to her as she got out of the car, rushing toward her best friend so she could be the first to hug her. When she pulled away from the hug, Alya had tears in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. She wanted to be brave for her friend, but she had known Marinette for so long that it was hard for her say goodbye.

Nino embraced his friend, wishing her good luck and safe travels. He was glad that she was going to follow her dreams, even though it would take her far away. Even he had some tears from the emotional parting, but he wanted to be strong as well. Not only for Marinette, but for Alya as well as he knew she was going to be breaking down as soon as they left.

"Where's Adrien?" Marinette asked quietly. She noticed he hadn't been in the car with them, but she had hoped he would be there as well to say goodbye to her. Alya and Nino looked at each other, neither of them sure of where he could be exactly.

"He said he would be here," Nino promised. If there was one thing he knew it was that Adrien wouldn't miss the chance to see Marinette off. They had gotten close during their time together and it would crush them both if they didn't see each other one last time.

Marinette sighed, holding her suitcases. "I have to go check in now," she said, her voice laced with disappointment. She had wanted to see Adrien, but she understood that he might have been busy. After all, despite the fact his father had become more lenient on him, he was still in control of the majority of his schedule.

Marinette gave her parents and friends one final hug, sharing a few more tears. She grabbed her suitcases and started to make her way into the airport, ready to start her next chapter in life. Just as she was about to head inside she heard someone say her name. No, not just anyone, she knew that tone of voice anywhere.

When she turned around, she saw Adrien getting out of his car and make his way toward her. She looked up at him, her blue eyes staring into his green. "I'm sorry I'm late, I just had to make a quick stop before I got here," he said, smiling.

"Well, I'm glad you made it," Marinette said softly, pushing her loose strands behind her ear. "I was getting worried that you wouldn't be here," she admitted, looking anywhere but at him. She was afraid that if she stared at him she would start bawling her eyes out.

"I wouldn't miss this," Adrien smiled. He cleared his throat, unsure of how he was going to say his next words. "Marinette, there's something I wanted to say before you go," he said slowly. He could feel his face heating up and the words catching in this throat as he tried to speak.

"You're my best friend Marinette and I think you're amazing," he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "You're always supporting and encouraging me through everything. You've been there for me when I needed someone and I feel like I could tell you anything in the world," he smile, feeling his heart beating faster.

"You are strong and kind and beautiful," he brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. "And I'm going to miss you when you're in Italy. I'm going to miss you a lot," Adrien whispered softly, cupping the side of her face gently. He leaned in closer, their faces inches apart from each other. "Because I love you," he murmured, unable to keep his gaze off of her.

Marinette looked at him, her eyes full of love. She had tried many times to tell herself to forget about her love for him, that he was going to be her best friend and she should be satisfied. But she knew in her heart she would always love him. And when he said those words it made her heart melt and she felt as if she were the luckies girl in Paris. "I love you too," she said softly, closing the distance.

Adrien savored the moment, the feeling of her lips on his. It was a feeling he didn't know he had been craving. When they finally parted he could only stare into her eyes. Her beautiful, bluebell eyes. He would miss them so much and he couldn't bare to think of her being so far away for so long. "I have something for you," he said, pulling out a small box from his pocket.

Marinette took hold of the box and opened it, gasping when she saw what was inside. Sitting in the middle of the box was a beautiful silver ring with two diamonds, one blue and one green. She carefully took it out of the box, slipping it onto her finger. "Oh Adrien," she smiled as if it were always meant to be on her finger.

"It's a promise ring, so I want you to promise you'll come back to me and one day we'll have a life together," Adrien said softly. "Because I know you're the only girl for me," he took her hand in his, kissing the back of it in a very Chat Noir like manner.

"I promise," Marinette smiled, knowing she would be keeping that promise no matter what. But it was bittersweet. While she was ecstatic that he reciprocated her feelings and wanted to start a relationship, she was about to leave for Italy and they wouldn't see each other again till Christmas break. She gathered up her suitcases, giving him one last parting kiss and waved a final goodbye to her friends and family before disappearing behind the sliding glass doors of the airport.

* * *

Just a disclaimer, I know nothing about colleges in Europe what so ever. The countries are real and their studies are real, but the types of colleges are made up.


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